Murray Events

A few weeks, I didn’t have much to discuss…today, it is the exact opposite. First, I wanted to pass along a couple interesting articles that talk about the importance of technology in K-12 curriculum. I know it is easy for the computer teacher to notice the “importance” of his subject, but even if I was not responsible for the technological education of Murray students, I would still be screaming from the rooftops that computer literacy needs to be part of any good curriculum. Anyway, here is a link to an blog post about the urgency for computer literacy for teachers. And, here is a link supporting the learning of computer programming in a technology program.

Also, I wanted to mention that we are in the middle of updating the Spanish Flash Cards on the Murray web site. A student from the University of Chicago has been putting in a lot of effort to not only update the Murray site, but to make the Spanish Flash Cards a great addition to the site. Please, check them out! Thanks Chelsea!

Now…on to fine arts. The 3rd graders are preparing for their first trip to the Smart Museum as part of the Art in Focus program. One of the main goals of this program is to increase the student’s use of visual language. In other words, we want the students to learn how to correctly talk about art. Above, Mr. Brown and I worked on an activity with the students utilizing two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes. I have a couple examples above. We want the students to learn that different types of artwork have different names. I’m often surprised how students refer to sculptures as “paintings”. This activity was used to help students understand the difference between two-dimensional and three-dimensional artwork. We also filled out surveys that will be given to the folks at the Smart Museum before our first trip.

The 4th graders worked on a short activity this week. Mr. Brown and I are hosting a student teacher in the fall, so she has been getting her feet wet at Murray recently. She taught a short two day lesson this week to 203 that I duplicated with 207. We read the book The Adventures of a Nose to the students. It is a story about a nose that feels out of place, but all of the illustrations in the book use the background to create a face so the nose looks like it really does fit in. The students had to choose a place that they felt comfortable in, and then, they needed to create a face using the things they would find in that place. For instance, a lot of students use their home and used the windows and doors as the eyes, nose, and mouth. They created these pictures using oil pastels.

The 5th graders began preparing for their first trip to the Smart Museum this week as past of the Smart Explorers program. This program also focuses on visual language, but it is more advanced. Everything we do will be directed toward a final presentation the students will do at the Smart Museum. They will all have to describe a piece of artwork to an audience of their friends and family. They will be doing a lot of the preparation for this with Mr. Rowell. In art, we will focusing more on learning the terminology. Our first activity will be centered learning what a curator is and what they do. All of the students are making an artwork of their choosing that we will be using to “curate” different types of exhibitions.

The 6th graders…are busy. First, I am looking forward to videotaping Motown Madness tonight. I will be putting pictures up here on Monday.  the students have started working on their class mosaic this week. I have pulled some students out of class this week, and will continue to pull kids out over the next month. Above, you will see the students already putting it together. This project is VERY cool…I can not stress that enough. When this gets installed over the summer, it is going to be a great piece of artwork the students can always look back on…because it will be permanent! I’m very excited for them. While we are doing this, the students are working on another project. We are creating monochromatic portraits. This is one of my favorite projects all year long because it involves so many different artistic processes. One of the classes has begun to paint them, while the other class is just about ready to trace the areas of their face. I’m looking forward to putting these up in the hallway.

One last thing…we just got some new computers in the language lab, so it will hopefully be FULLY operational next week…whew…that’s enough for now…until next week…

ISAT’s are here. Soon they will be over. Let’s move on…

I put some pictures up of the African American Heritage Fair here. As always, it was a great event and the performances were beyond excellent. The media club recorded the event and they are in the process of editing the video in order to sell the DVDs. On that note, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who purchased the winter assembly DVD. We can still make more if you would like to purchase one…just let me know.

On to fine arts, the 3rd graders began a project this week focusing on biomorphic shapes. Mr. Brown taught them the difference between biomorphic and geometric shapes. From there, they practiced drawing biomorphic shapes. When I saw the classes this week, they began drawing and cutting biomorphic shapes out of styrofoam. They will be making sculptures with these shapes soon.

The 4th grade students are in the middle of planning, recording, and editing their global warming environmental public service announcements. I have so much to say about this project, but I’m going to give my full assessment until it is over. Let me just say that I have been extremely proud about how the students have tackled the video making process. And, please try to attend the closing event for this project at the Hyde Park Art Center on Thursday, March 13th at 4:00.

Download What Are Your Kids Listening To?

The 5th grade students finished up their hip hop project this week. Above, you will see a short video I made for the African American Heritage Fair. It includes a lot of the students responses to discussions we had in class about the way they view hip hop now and the way it “used” to be. We are going to do a short project centering around Andy Warhol before starting the Smart Explorers project when we return from spring break.

Download Disco Dance by Ali, Liza, Ellynne, and Helena

Above, you will see one of the finished stop animations. All of the stop animations can be seen here. Some of the students worked on the final mosaic design this week. After spring break, the students will be working on putting the mosaic together with Mirtes. The project will continue through early May, but we will not be working on the project during every single class period. Mirtes will be here on certain days for the entire school day and the students will work on the mosaic in shifts.

Download Zoe

Finally, Saturday Academy ended last week. To see on of the dub videos the students made, you can look above. I will be making DVDs of all the finished videos soon.

Enjoy the long weekend!

It is good to know that in the midst of all this ISAT craziness, there is something to look forward to. With the African American History Fair tonight, the students have a chance to put on a tremendous musical show. I’m looking forward to it…pictures will be up next week.

The 3rd graders gave their puppet performances this week for their classmates and Ms. Graham’s preschool class. We had some bumps and bruises with the performances, but it was fun to see the students be excited to perform and give it their best. The photographs above are from the camera of Mr. Phillips…thanks!

The 4th graders are in the middle of making their videos…this is the crazy part of the project since the students are at different points in the project. Above, you can see one of the groups in action. Also, we will be having a “end of the project celebration” at the Hyde Park Art Center on March 13th from 4 to 7. Slips about this went home yesterday. We are trying to get a head count, so if these can be returned soon, we would appreciate it. Thanks.

Download Ryan’s Breakbeat

The 5th graders are just about finished with their hip hop unit. Mr. Bynum’s class are done with their breakbeats and Mr. Rowell’s class will finish next week. You can hear an example of one of their breakbeats above. We also listened to some older hip hop songs in class this week so the students can hear that hip hop is great art form that can be used for many positive messages. It is too bad that many of the students see it as a money first, almost inappropriate piece of popular culture. Considering it has very modest beginnings, I wanted them to see what the lyrics could be.

The 6th graders are finishing up two things. First, they are going to be completing a finished design for their class mosaic with Mirtes next week. Plus, they are just about to finish their stop animations as well. I will be putting all of the stop animations online soon.

Also, the video editing Saturday Academy will be ending tomorrow. I will be putting the student videos on a DVD to give to them next week. I had a lot of fun teaching this class, so I hope the students learned a lot and enjoyed their time with me on the weekend.

Until next week…

I’ll keep this short since I know many of us are going to focus our attention on the upcoming winter break. First, here are some pictures from the assembly today. Myself and three students will be putting together a video of the event during January and February.

The 3rd graders are almost finished with their paintings inspired by different musicians. We will be putting the finishing touches on these when we return from break.

Above, you will see some examples of the inspiration pictures the 4th graders finished recently. They are on Art Sonia and hanging in the hallway. When we return from break, we will be starting a long project involving science, writing, and video-making. We will be working with Jessi Walsh from the Hyde Park Art Center.

The 5th graders are continuing to work on their foamcore houses. We did not meet much this week because they were practicing for the assembly, but we will complete this project in January. Even though this is a new process for the students, I have been happy about their patience and diligence.

The 6th graders are officially done with their embroidered pillows. Everyone has had their pillow sewn together and they should have gotten a chance to seal the opening with some thread this week. When we return from the break, we will be working toward beginning to take pictures for their stop motion animations.

Once again, have a great winter break!

It was great to see a handful of parents yesterday during report card pickup. It is not often that parents and teachers get to sit down and discuss what is happening at the school, so I certainly like when these days come around.

With the new quarter, most classes are just beginning new projects as I have mentioned here before. The 3rd graders are working on their landscapes on Windows Paint. It is very exciting to see so many of the students experiment with the software, check it out, and make some great looking artwork. I really love digital artwork.

The 4th grade students are making origami cubes. It is just a quick three day project that we will be finishing soon. After that, we will be learning about inspiration which is one of my favorite topics.

The 5th grade students are starting a new project. They are learning about tint and shade by using a gray scale. First, they are creating a grid on a piece of cardboard. Then, they are using a print out of squares in different shades of gray. Then, they need to match those squares to the correct value of gray (10%, 20%, 30%, etc.). Finally, they will be painting the squares on their piece of cardboard with different shades and tints of green. We did this project last year with the 5th grade to create the large purple face in the fine arts hallway. It will require everyone’s participation…and the final outcome looks great.

The 6th graders have just started embroidering their pillows. We are learning the satin stitch and the back stitch. I love how the students get very excited about this project at the start…the trick is keeping the excitement going. Starting this week, the students can bring these home, but it is not required. They do need to make sure they do not lose any of their materials…that is the tough part.

Enjoy the long weekend!

Until next week.

An annual tradition for Murray…the PTO Walk-A-Thon. The rain stayed away and it was a great day. Thanks to the PTO for supporting CUIP with the donations made during the Walk-A-Thon. We all certainly appreciate it.

First, I wanted to mention that the 4th grade has finished up their video poems. I hope to have all of these videos up on the Murray web site next week.

For fine arts, the 3rd graders had their final event for the Smart Museum Art in Focus program. It was the culmination of their weeks of learning how to look and talk about art. They learned about many principles of art through visits to the SmartKids web site, three visits to the Smart Museum, and different art making projects. We would certainly like to thank the Smart Museum and the hard work of the docents to educate our students in visual language.

In 4th grade, we are doing two projects at the same time. The students are finishing up their surrealism collages that we started before Ms. Lager began teaching. Also, we are working on sonobe cubes. It is an origami cube you can make with 6 pieces of square paper.

The 5th graders have finished their mythical sculptures made out of clay and they are currently being fired in a kiln over at the Hyde Park Art Center. They painted a background for their sculpture on cardboard this week, and next week they will paint their sculptures.

The 6th graders are still working on their graffiti project. The students have really gotten in to this project and have been doing some excellent work. As you can see from the above photo, we went outside this week so they could paint outside. I hope to show them how to use an airbrush this week, but I do not think we will have time for everyone to use it.

Until next week…

That’s me at the CUIP Tech Expo at King High School yesterday. I was there to “show off” the public service announcements created by our 5th graders. I’m still in the process of making these available on our web site, but since it is a new process for me, it might take a while.

In fine arts, we are rapidly heading towards the finish. The 3rd graders did a short activity this week by creating movement or a pattern using oil pastels and construction paper. Next week, they will have their final event for the Art in Focus program. They will be sharing their artwork with each other and sharing what they wrote in their journals at the Smart Museum. They will also be bringing home the sculptures they created with Ms. Lager. Those are exciting, and I can’t wait for them to bring them home.

The 4th graders are going to be finishing up their surrealism collages they started working on right before spring break. And, they will be making origami cubes.

The 5th graders are almost done with their mythical creature sculptures. Next week, they are going to be taken to the Hyde Park Art Center so they can be fired in a kiln, and the students will paint them during the final week of school. They also used a piece of cardboard to paint a background for their sculpture to sit on.

The 6th graders are just about to start putting their graffiti on the brick wall they created this week. We talked about the origins of graffiti this week and looked at a couple of different pieces. We discussed the difference between just scrawling your name on a public place and the actual art form of graffiti. They started designing what their piece will look like and we will start painting them next week. I hope to get a chance to show them how an airbrush works as well.
Finally, the 4th graders have been working hard on finishing up their poetry videos. They are really coming along great and they are responding well to all of the extra information that has been thrown at them. I hope to have them all completed by the end of next week.

Until then…

First of all, I wanted to say I had a great time with the 5th and 6th graders at Exchange City this past Monday. I know the students learned a lot from their experience there, and it was great to see the students rise to the occasion when real world problems were presented to them. I’m looking forward to continuing this program next year.

Also, the 3rd graders began their trips to the Smart Museum for the Art in Focus program this week. I went with Mr. Brookins class and Ms. Ziegler will be going with Mr. Graves class. They will be visiting a total of 3 times over the next few weeks while they learn about various art principles.

Next, the 5th graders started a project today making public service announcements. I’m very excited about this project because it really pushes the students to think and learn the different programs in the computer lab. I’m looking forward to putting the finished products on the blog.

Finally, Ms. Lager has finished her second week at student teaching and she is really getting the hang of it. She is still in the middle of different types of printmaking with the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. And, she is working with the 3rd graders on these great “junk” sculptures.

Until next week…

I was surprised to find out that ISAT testing is only 2 weeks ago. I’m not surprised because I didn’t know we had ISAT testing, but I’m surprised it so close. I know it can be a stressful time for students, teachers, and parents, but I’m confident our students will do well. And, I’m happy to hear that the closer we get to starting the ISAT, the closer we are to finishing them as well.

Both 3rd grade classes worked in the computer lab this week on the Windows Paint program. They will be making landscapes with this program. As I have told the students, I like doing artwork on the computer, so I’m hoping the students will get as much joy from it as I do. I have told them that computer generated artwork is very different from artwork we would do in the fine arts classroom. And, some students who don’t feel as successful using paper and pencil might find great success drawing on the computer.

The 4th grade students continue to work with Ms. Walsh on the CAPE project. We are nearing the end of the first phase of this project soon. As you can see, the students got a chance to go outside to take pictures this week. I’m glad we waited a week because the melting of the snow will hopefully make their pictures from outside more interesting. The students are also beginning to write their final stories from the picture they took. I will explain more next week, but they will eventually be due on March 7th.

The 5th graders are still painting their grids. We have begun to put the pieces of the puzzle together in the hallway near the art room. Many of the students have been asking, “How will it make a face?” It should be interesting to see how this takes shape over the next week or so. I know I’ve very excited to see the results.

The 6th graders have begun working on their final world language math games. They have done a good job of policing themselves and getting down to work. We are hoping these games can be used with classes other than just 6th grade. I’m glad the world language teachers supported this class so much with this project.

On the technology front, the 3rd graders will begin making Microsoft Excel graphs with data they have collected in their classrooms. I have been working with someone through CUIP to help this project take shape.

Also, I’m going to a technology conference in St. Louis next week, so I will not be here on Monday and Tuesday. You can never stop learning as far as I’m concerned…

First, I wanted to send my appreciation out to all of the teachers, parents, and students who made it to school this past Tuesday and Wednesday. While I feel the conditions could have been treacherous for many, I was happy to see that students still came. That says a lot about how important learning is in our world. When bus service was canceled on Wednesday, I asked one girl who I knew took the bus how she got to school. She said, “My dad drove me. He said, ‘My daughter is going to get her education.’” Of course, I’m paraphrasing, but it wasn’t that far off.

Also, I’m looking forward to the African American History Fair tonight. I missed last year because I was out of town, so I’m looking forward to the festivities tonight. This weekend, I should have pictures up on the Murray site here.

Finally, before I talk about this week in fine arts, I wanted to mention a cool online game I was introduced to this week. The Blueprint Game is pretty simple to learn but maddening to master. Plus, in this day and age when kids want to play games, I think it is fun and, dare I say, educational. Basically, you have to move the ramps, blocks, and other items around to make the bowling ball hit the target. Try it out!

Okay, let’s talk fine arts. The 3rd graders began working on Windows Paint this week. Personally, I like to experiment with a program when it is new to me, so I let the students try some of the tools on the Windows Paint program this week. I was impressed by their attention and interest in this basic program. I’m looking forward to working with them on it more in the coming weeks. Mr. Brookins class will work with Windows Paint next week. They have missed a couple class periods because of a field trip and the visit from the student teachers last week. We will back on track after next week.

The 4th graders are still in the middle of their CAPE project. We intended on the students going outside to take pictures this week, but we decided against because all of their pictures would be white, so we adjusted. Instead, we gave them a bunch of strange objects on their table to they could arrange a still-life and take a picture of it. The students were disappointed we did not go outside, but I think they will be pleased with the results of their still-life pictures. They had very creative ideas! We also had a choice for their second picture. It could either be in their classroom or the old computer lab. Next week, we will definitely be going outside to take pictures. Cross your fingers…

The 5th graders began painting their grid this week. We talked about value and gray scale which is not an easy concept to grasp. Each student was given a small sheet of paper with a grid similar to their grid, but it was already filled in with different grays on them. Each gray corresponded to a certain percentage of black. They needed to match the grays to the correct percentage and then write it on their grid. Those percentages corresponded to a certain percentage of purple paint. They needed to go around the room and paint the correct percentage of purple in each square. Why are we doing this? Each of these grids is a piece of a puzzle. If it is done correctly, we will be able to piece this puzzle together to reveal a face. The kids are curious…which is good. I’m looking forward to the results.

The 6th graders are chugging along with their world language math games. I’ve been impressed with their involvement and self-sufficiency with this project. They finished up their rough drafts this week, and now, they are moving on to the final. The final goal is that these games can be used with other classes, so they have to make sure it works correctly and the rules make sense.

Hope to see you tonight and once again, enjoy the long weekend!

For me, this is a challenging and exciting time of year. The weather makes it tough to get around, ISAT testing is looming in the distance, and as teachers, we have a lot of things to take care of. On the flip side, it is exciting because we have so much to look forward to in the coming months. Presently, we get to celebrate the African-American History Fair together as a school community on Friday. And, we are in the middle of some exciting projects in Fine Arts.

First, I wanted to mention that a group of four students from the School of the Art Institute visited my classroom on Thursday. They are learning to be teachers and part of their curriculum is to actually “test” out one of their projects with actual students. Each student based their project on the work of Ken Grimes who currently has work at Intuit Gallery. His work is based on aliens and is only black and white. The students were broken up into four groups and did one of the four activities. The students were great “test subjects” and I’m proud of how they accepted this diversion. I’m sure the student teachers learned a lot.

As I mentioned last week, the third graders finished up their movement pictures this week. Mr. Brookins class will actually finish them next week. Afterwards, both classes will be coming to the computer lab to work on landscapes using Windows Paint.

The 4th graders are continuing their project with CAPE. This week, Ms. Walsh and I gave them a series of six pictures that they needed to visually rearrange as a group and then write stories individually to accompany the pictures. It is exciting to see the students use these pictures to write creative stories. We have noticed that the more interesting pictures elicit a tremendous response from the students. As we continue through this project, we hope the students continue to look beyond the pictures to create their stories. We have talked about how they need to think about the characters, setting, and plot behind the pictures. Then, the students began to take their own pictures. We talked about the correct way to frame a picture and to focus on details. Each student took two pictures within the new wing. Next week, we will be going outside to take more pictures.

The 5th graders began their painting based on the work of Chuck Close this week. We looked at a couple examples of his work like the one below.

We began by creating a grid this week on an eight inch by ten inch piece of cardboard. Next week, we will begin painting the individual squares. When we piece the individual paintings together, it will create one large face. I’m very excited to see the results.

The sixth graders are working on games using their world language and math. The world language teachers and I collaborated on this project so the students would apply multiple disciplines into one project. This week, the students formed groups and began working on the rough drafts. We have been stressing that the students practice their games because the you work out the problems and kinks of your game by practicing it multiple times. It makes the final game more enjoyable to play. My former profession was a toy designer, so I love collaborating with the students on the game play, the rules, and the theme of the game. The students do a great job working together and making a working game.

On the technology front, I’m pleased to report that we will be getting new black and white printers for the school. The printers we have right now have been a major headache for the tech coordinator (me) and the teachers. I’m happy the PTO approved this move and I wanted to thank them again.

Also, the 6th graders have been making podcasts under the guidance of Mr. Rowell. They created podcasts last year with myself and Erik Treese from CUIP, so they are building on their knowledge of how to make a podcast and using Audacity (a free sound editing program).

Enjoy the long weekend…

This is just a little early, but I wanted to wish everyone a great holiday. We still have the winter assembly tomorrow, so it will be a little crazy and I wanted to make sure I posted before the week ended. Please check out the three-dimensional buildings the 5th graders created using Google SketchUp. As you can see, there are some above. In January, they will be starting a weaving project. The 3rd and 4th graders worked on holiday pop-up cards this week and will start new projects when we return after the break. The 3rd graders will learn about the principle of movement while the 4th graders will create logos on the computer. The 6th graders are in the middle of creating embroidered pillows. The students usually get very excited about this project and jump right into it. Some of the students have wanted to use them as early Christmas presents. All I have to say…go for it!

Well, have a great break, and we will see you in 2007!

We had a very successful final events for both Mr. Brown’s class and Mr. Bynum’s class this past week. Thank you to all of the family members that were able to make it, and thank you our students who did such a great job with such a difficult assignment. I have included a couple pictures above of both events. Mr. Brown’s class still needs to turn in their accordion book stories to me on Monday if they have not done so already or it will be marked late.

In the weeks leading up until the winter break, the third grade students will be finishing up their community murals. They will soon be hanging up in the new wing. They will also be working with watercolors. The fourth grade students will be working with the principle of inspiration, and creating their own designs based on patterns and pictures they cut out. I will have their high contrast pictures hanging up very soon. The fifth grade students will be working with a great 3D modeling program called Google SketchUp which can be downloaded from my downloads page for free. Finally, the sixth grade students just started one of my favorite projects. They are creating monochromatic portraits. As I have told the students, these portraits are part of a process. In other words, they need to do many different activities correctly in order to get the desired outcome. They really look fabulous when they are finished, so I’m happy we have started this project.

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving break!